Bill Ford Jr. had the juice to dump CEO Jac Nasser. But now he has to prove he can run a car company

William Clay (Bill) Ford Jr. agonized over whether to fire Jacques Nasser. But when he decided two weeks ago that the CEO of the family-controlled Ford Motor Co. had to go, he moved fast. Ford called Carl Reichardt, a longtime director and former head of Wells Fargo Bank, and asked him if he would be vice chairman. To his surprise, the 70-year-old Reichardt, whose financial acumen Ford sorely needs, called back two days later and agreed. So last Monday, Ford ushered Nasser into his wood-paneled corner office and took away the keys. "We were just getting pounded," Ford told TIME last...